Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Each age has deemed the new born yearThe fittest time for festal cheer. ~ Walter ScottThe merry year is bornLike the bright berry from the naked thorn. ~ Hartley ColeridgeI think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's. ~ Henry MooreHe who breaks a resolution is a weakling;He who makes one is a fool. ~ F. M. KnowlesFor last year's words belong to last year's languageAnd next year's words await another voice.And to make an end is to make a beginning. ~ T. S. EliotQuotes for the new year 2014

Saturday, December 28, 2013

It's better to burn out than to fade away. ~ Neil YoungSlowly, with many lost days, I come back to life. ~Suzanne CollinsLove as much and as hard as you can because one day in your life near the end, you may forget how it truly feels. ~Jeanette Michelle

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.' ~ Erma Bombeck

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. ~ Abraham Lincoln Quotes about end

Friday, December 27, 2013

Clearness ornaments profound thoughts. ~ Luc de ClapiersEducation is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age. ~ AristotleSo may the outward shows be least themselves: the world is still deceived with ornament... ~ William ShakespeareModesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue. ~ Joseph AddisonTrue ornament is not a matter of prettifying externals. It is organic with the structure it adorns whether a person, a building, or a park. ~ Frank Lloyd WrightQuotes about ornament

Monday, December 23, 2013

Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings. Only one thing endures, and that is character. ~Horace GreeleyCharacter consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries. ~James MichenerThe virtue of man ought to be measured, not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his everyday conduct. ~Blaise PascalCharacter is the sum total of all our everyday choices. ~Margaret JensenSow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. ~William JamesA talent can be cultivated in tranquility; a character only in the rushing stream of life. ~GoetheQuotes about character

Saturday, December 21, 2013

So the shortest day came, and the year died,And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white worldCame people singing, dancing,To drive the dark away.They lighted candles in the winter trees;They hung their homes with evergreen;They burned beseeching fires all night longTo keep the year alive,And when the new year's sunshine blazed awakeThey shouted, reveling.Through all the frosty ages you can hear themEchoing behind us - Listen!!All the long echoes sing the same delight,This shortest day,As promise wakens in the sleeping land:They carol, fest, give thanks,And dearly love their friends,And hope for peace.And so do we, here, now,This year and every year.Welcome Yule!! ~ Susan Cooper

The hope is always here, always alive, but only your fierce caring can fan it into a fire to warm the world. ~ Susan CooperQuote for the winter solstice

Friday, December 20, 2013

The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place. ~ Barbara DeangelisA peaceful mind is a
springboard to positive transformation , for by cleansing the mind we
inspire the spirit and motivate the soul. ~Micheal Teal

Religion teaches us that our lives here on earth are to be used for transformation. ~ Huston Smith When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness. ~ Joseph Campbell

Transformation of any
kind always exacts a holy tussle. The newborn butterfly struggles to
open its wings so it can conjure up the strength to fly. So, too, with
artists, inventors, mystics, and entrepreneurs. ~Tama Kieves

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something. ~Henry David ThoreauA man who silently lives by his ethics makes a more profound argument than one who deafens us with his shouting about them. ~Gerry SpenceNever let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. ~Isaac Asimov A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of
obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all
human morality. ~Winston ChurchillCompassion is the basis of morality. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer Whenever governments adopt a moral tone - as opposed to an ethical one - you know something is wrong. ~John Ralston SaulManners easily and rapidly mature into morals. ~Horace MannQuotes about morals

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Follow your honest convictions, and stay strong. ~William ThackerayConviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct. ~Thomas Carlyle Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. ~Blaise Pascal Convictions, in the end, can be dangerous,but a world without them is just an awful kind of gray, amorphous mass. ~Bono Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions. ~ Dag Hammarskjold Quotes about convictions

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow
strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. ~Peter
Marshall

Pressure can burst a pipe, or pressure can make a diamond. ~Robert Horry

The only pressure I'm under is the pressure I've put on myself. ~Mark MessierTears are the safety valve of the heart when too much pressure is laid on it. ~Albert SmithCourage is grace under pressure. ~ Ernest HemingwayThere are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. ~ Willa Cather

Monday, December 16, 2013

Explanation separates us from astonishment, which is the only gateway to the incomprehensible. I read a page of Plato's great work. I can no longer understand
anything, because behind the words on the page, which have their own
heavenly brightness, to be sure, there shines an even brighter, an
enormous, dazzling -why- that blots out everything, cancels out,
destroys all meaning. All individual intelligence. When one has
understood, one stops, satisfied with what one has understood. I do not
understand. Understanding is far too little. To have understood is to be
fixed, immobilized. It is as though one wanted to stop on one step in
the middle of a staircase, or with one foot in the void and the other on
the endless stair. But a mere why, a new why can set one off again, can
unpetrify what was petrified and everything starts flowing afresh. How
can one understand? One cannot.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Why do you put your self esteem in the hands of complete strangers? ~Helena Bonham CarterThe worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself. ~ Mark TwainThe greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself. ~Michel de Montaigne

You are your own worst enemy. If you can learn to stop expecting
impossible perfection, in yourself and others, you may find the
happiness that has always eluded you. ~ Lisa KleypasQuotes about self esteem

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Parents need to filla child's bucket of self-esteem so highthat the rest of the world can't pokeenough holes to drain it dry. ~ Alvin PriceWe worry about what a child will become tomorrow; yet we forget that he is someone today. ~ Stacia TauscherTry to be like the turtle- at ease in your own shell. ~ Bill CopelandLow self esteem is like driving through life with your hand break on. ~ Maxwell Maltz Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. ~ Helen Keller

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

May I see my own limits with compassion, just as I view the limits of others. ~Joan Halifax

My limits know me well enough to stay out of my way. ~Ben MitchellLimits, like fear, is often an illusion. ~Michael Jordan As we advance our lives we know the limits of our abilities. ~Henry FordOnce we accept our limits, we go beyond them. ~ Albert EinsteinQuotes about limits

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Love is not consolation. It is light.Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.Human existence is so fragile a thing and exposed to such dangers that I cannot love without trembling.

We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them. To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. Quotes by Simone Weil

Monday, December 9, 2013

Soon is not as good as now. ~Seth GodinI never think of the future; it comes soon enough. ~Albert EinsteinLife's tragedy is that we get old too soon, and wise too late. ~Benjamin FranklinYou cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson How did it get late so soon? ~Dr. Seuss

Saturday, December 7, 2013

One love, one heart . . .Let’s get together and feel all right. ~ Bob MarleyIt does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. ~Thomas JeffersonAll for one and one for all. ~Alexander Dumas, The Three Musketeers When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. ~Winston Churchill

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon. ~Ikkyu, Zen poet Quotes about division, unity

Friday, December 6, 2013

Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up.We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always right ripe to do what is right.To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. Quotes by Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it will not come again in this identical guise.Live not for Battles Won.Live not for The-End-of-the-Song. Live in the along. We are each others' harvest; we are each others' business; we are each others' magnitude and bond.It is brave to be involvedTo be not fearful, to be unresolved. Quotes by Gwendolyn Brooks

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often
helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul. ~Joyce Carol OatesI read so I can live more than one life in more than one place. ~Anne TylerThere is no friend as loyal as a book. ~Ernest HemingwayWe read to know that we are not alone. ~C.S. LewisKnowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations. ~Vladimir NabokovThe worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones. ~Joseph JoubertQuotes about reading

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. ~John Muir

The universe is wider than our views of it. ~ Henry David ThoreauI want to put a ding in the universe. ~ Steve JobsThere is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that's your own self. ~George OrwellQuotes about the universe

Monday, December 2, 2013

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the
most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. ~Edward AbbeyLook at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a
day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had
everything to do, and you’ve done it. ~Margaret ThatcherForgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on. ~Les BrownWorry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. ~Corrie Ten BoomI doubt if there is among us a more useful citizen than the one who
holds the secret of banishing gloom, of making tears give way to
laughter, of supplanting desolation and despair with hope and courage,
for hope and courage always go with a light heart. ~ Franklin Delano RooseveltQuotes about courage, hope, and inner strength

Saturday, November 30, 2013

You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world. ~Oprah WinfreyIt may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain
and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not
to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard
the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect. ~ Herman Hesse, Siddhartha To be ill adjusted in a deranged world is not a breakdown. ~Jeanette WintersonWe have to heal our wounded world. The chaos, despair, and senseless
destruction we see today are a result of the alienation that people feel
from each other and their environment. ~Michael JacksonHow far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. ~William Shakespeare, The Merchant of VeniceI alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. ~Mother TeresaNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret MeadQuotes about the world

Friday, November 29, 2013

We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls. ~ Bill BrysonOnce a culture becomes entirely advertising friendly, it seizes to be a culture at all. ~ Mark Crispin MillerWe no longer live life. We consume it. ~ Vicki RobinThis is the postmodern desert inhabited by people who are, in effect,
consuming themselves in the form of images and abstractions through
which their desires, sense of identity, and memories are replicated and
then sold back to them as products. ~ Larry McCaffreyThere must be more to life than having everything. ~ Maurice Sendak Quotes about shopping, consumerism

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Sometimes in the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair. Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do
it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.Often, to be free means the ability to deal with the realities of one's own situation so as not to be overcome by them.There is something in every one of you that waits and
listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true
guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of
your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else
pulls.A dream is the bearer of a new possibility, the enlarged horizon, the great hope.Quotes by Howard Thurman

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

May you live every day of your life. ~Jonathan SwiftThe powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. ~Walt WhitmanBecome major, Paul. Live like a hero. That's what the
classics teach us. Be a main character. Otherwise what is life for?
~J. M. CoetzeeIf you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud. ~Emile ZolaDon't fear death, fear the un-lived life. ~Natalie BabbittQuotes about living life

Saturday, November 23, 2013

The most important thing in communication is to hear what
isn't being said. ~Peter Drucker

Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle. ~ G. K. ChestertonIt is the encounters with people that make life worth living. ~ Guy de Maupasant When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective. ~ Stephen R. CoveyA wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. ~ Charles DickensQuotes about communication

Friday, November 22, 2013

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush
stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be
aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.We celebrate the past to awaken the future.As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.Quotes by John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated 50 years ago, Nov. 22 1962

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Nobody can teach me who I am. You can describe parts of me, but who I am
- and what I need - is something I have to find out myself.People say that if you find water rising up to your ankles, that's the time to do something about it, not when it's around your neck. Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.A functioning robust democracy requires a healthy, educated participatory followership, and an educated morally grounded leadership.

When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him,
he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.

The impatient idealist says: 'Give me a place to stand and I shall move
the earth.' But such a place does not exist. We all have to stand on the
earth itself and go with her at her pace.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

It's an interesting combination: having a great fear of being alone, and having a desperate need for solitude and the solitary experience. That's always been a tug of war for me. Normal is not something to aspire to; it's something to get away from.I guess I've played a lot of victims, but that's what a lot of the history of women is about.Love and respect are the most important aspects of parenting and of all relationships.I want to be inspiring to myself, to my kids, my family, and my friends.Quotes from Jodie Foster, birthday today, November 19, 1962

Monday, November 18, 2013

If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just. ~ Anita RoddickWhen we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. ~ Helen KellerBe what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are. ~ Julius Charles HareWhatever you are, be a good one. ~ Abraham Lincoln Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. ~ Theodore Roosevelt Success has a simple formula: do your best and people may like it. ~ Sam Ewing

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Address things now that could otherwise turn into regrets. ~ Jane FondaOf all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been." ~ Kurt VonnegutNever look back unless you are planning to go that way. ~ Henry David ThoreauThere was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of
what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth. ~ Charles DickensIf only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world. ~ Mercedes LackeyMake it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is
an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for
wallowing in. ~Katherine Mansfield

Friday, November 15, 2013

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of. ~ Benjamin FranklinInformation is pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience. ~ Clarence DayStuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. ~ Ray BradburyLife is pretty simple. You do stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others will copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is doing the something else. ~ Tom Peters

Thursday, November 14, 2013

In the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. ~Kahlil Gibran

Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding
and a forgiving heart, one who looks for the best in people. Leave people
better than you found them. ~Marvin J. AshtonWherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ ConfuciusYour vision will become clear only if you can look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. ~Carl JungGo to your bosom. Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. ~ William ShakespeareQuotes about the heart

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Work lovingly done is the secret of all order and happiness.I invent nothing. I rediscover.Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.Patience is also a form of action.The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.

Quotes by Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (1840-1917), birthday on this day, November 12

The
artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him
through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted
nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature
directs towards himRead more at http://www.quoteoasis.com/authors/r/francois_auguste_rene_rodin_quotes.html#FbihiTseb7Awzuk

Saturday, November 9, 2013

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man
and the life he leads? ~Albert Camus

Out of clutter find simplicity. ~ Albert Einstein

Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I am fascinated by what is beautiful, strong, healthy, what is living. I seek harmony. ~ Leni RiefenstahlI tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other
men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the
revelation of their harmony. ~Gustav FlaubertQuotes about harmony

Friday, November 8, 2013

At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since. ~Salvador Dali

The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise. ~ Maya Angelou

Ambition has but one reward for all: A little power, a little transient fame; A grave to rest in, and a fading name! ~ William Winter

We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition. ~ William James

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? ~ Robert Browning

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice. ~William Henry ChanningThe formula for success is simple: practice and concentration then more practice and more concentration. ~Babe ZahariasChampions keep playing until they get it right. ~ Billie Jean KingTalent is only a starting point. ~ Irving Berlin Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. ~ Anton ChekovQuotes about practice

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you. ~Shanon L. AlderI had an inheritance from my father,It was the moon and the sun.And though I roam all over the world,The spending of it’s never done. ~ Ernest HemingwayEveryone must leave something behind when he dies . . . Something your
hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die . . .
It doesn't matter what you do, so long as you change something from the
way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after
you take your hands away. ~ Ray BradburyWe don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~David Brower

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. ~ PlutarchThe longest journey of any person is the journey inward. ~ Dag HammarskjoldThe inward journey is about finding your own fullness, something that no one else can take away. ~ Deepak ChopraKnowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. ~ AristotleThe only journey is the one within. ~ Rainer Maria WilkeIn ourselves our safety must be sought. By our own right hand it must be wrought. ~ William WordsworthQuotes about the inward journey, self discovery

Monday, November 4, 2013

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am
swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my
lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and
space? In fact, the truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act; not merely to reflect. Zen professes itself to be the spirit of
Buddhism, but in fact it is the spirit of all religions and
philosophies. When Zen is thoroughly understood, absolute peace of mind
is attained, and a man lives as he ought to live. What more may we hope?The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with
the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way
possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.
Therefore, anything that has the semblance of an external authority is
rejected by Zen. Absolute faith is placed in a man's own inner being.
For whatever authority there is in Zen, all comes from within. Quotes by D. T. Suzuki

Saturday, November 2, 2013

When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what? ~Sydney HarrisTry not to get lost in comparing yourself to others. Discover your gifts and let them shine. ~ Jane FinchComparison is the death of joy. ~ Mark TwainDo not compare yourself with anybody. Compare yourself with yourself, for yourself and by yourself. We are all uniquely pottered and purposed by our creator! ~ Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged. ~ Helen Keller

Friday, November 1, 2013

Most of our assumptions have outlived their usefulness. ~ Marshall McLuhan

Assess before you assume. ~ Lyle KwiatkowskiThe strength of one's opinion should not exceed their knowledge on the matter. ~ Eric HirzelEuclid taught me that without assumptions there is no proof. Therefore, in any argument examine the assumptions. ~ E. T. BellBegin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your
windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light
won't come in. ~ Alan AldaQuotes about assumptions

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. ~ Mason CooleyHalloween is huge at my house and we really get into the "spirits" of things. ~ Dee SniderWhere there is no imagination there is no horror. ~ Arthur Conan DoyleTis the night—the nightOf the grave's delight,And the warlocks are at their play;Ye think that without,The wild winds shout,But no, it is they—it is they. ~ Arthur Cleveland Coxe

Halloween wraps fear in innocence,
As though it were a slightly sour sweet.
Let terror, then, be turned into a treat... Nicholas GordonQuotes about Halloween

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The road to success is always under construction. ~ Lily TomlinI couldn't wait for success, so I went on without it. ~ Jonathan WintersI've had great success being a total idiot. ~ Jerry LewisEighty percent of success is showing up. ~ Woody Allen You are forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if you generously consent to share them. ~ Albert Camus

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel. ~H. Jackson Brown The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. ~Woodrow WilsonEven in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings. ~ Ralph Waldo EmersonCourage doesn't always roar, sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering 'I will try again tomorrow.' ~ Mary Anne RadmacherLife keeps throwing me curve balls and I don't even own a bat. At least my dodging skills are improving. ~ Jayleigh CapeQuotes about perseverance, resilience

Monday, October 28, 2013

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. ~ John SteinbeckI refuse to accept other people's ideas of happiness for me. As if there's 'a one size fits all' standard for happiness. ~ Kanye West I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. ~ John CageYou can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere. ~ Lee Iacocca

Getting an idea should be like sitting down on a pin; it should make you jump up and do something. ~ E. L. Simpson

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness. ~ Anne Frank

To light a candle is to cast a shadow. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~ Edith Wharton

How far that little candle throws its beams. So shines a good deed in a naughty world. ~William Shakespeare My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—It gives a lovely light! ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils,light in your eyes,flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. ~ Robert Louis StevensonThe art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.~ Henry Ward BeecherWhen you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. ~George Washington CarverMany ingenious lovely things are goneThat seemed sheer miracle to the multitude,protected from the circle of the moonthat pitches common things about.~ William Butler YeatsQuotes about common things

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself.Homo sapiens, the only creature endowed with reason, is also the only creature to pin its existence on things unreasonable.Genius is that which forces the inertia of humanity to learn.Intuition is a method of feeling one's way intellectually into the inner
heart of a thing to locate what is unique and inexpressible in it.The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend.Quotes by Henri Bergson, French philosopher and Nobel laureate, 1927

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery. ~ H. G. WellsDo not all charms fly at the mere touch of cold philosophy? There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: we know her woof, her texture; she is given in the dull catalogue of common things. Philosophy will clip an angel's wings, conquer all mysteries by rule and line, empty the haunted air, and unweave a rainbow. ~ John KeatsAbandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy
answers, and to begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the
mystery and paradoxes of life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of
causes and consequences that are inherent in each experience -- to
appreciate the fact that life is complex. ~ M. Scott Peck

Monday, October 21, 2013

In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty. ~ Joseph Addison But what is your duty? What the day demands. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe How can we know ourselves? Never by reflection, but only through action. Begin at once to do your duty and immediately you will know what is inside you. ~ Goethe Non nobis solum nati sumus. (Not for ourselves alone are we born.) ~ CiceroLife is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles, and kindnesses, and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort. ~ Humphrey Davy

Friday, October 18, 2013

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. ~ RumiCleverness is not wisdom. ~ EuripidesWhich would you rather be if you had the choice--divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good? ~ L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green GablesToo clever is dumb. ~ Ogden NashIf we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric,compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,linear thought process that counts on cleverness. ~ Joel SalatinQuotes about cleverness

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third. ~ Marge Piercy To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to. ~ Kahlil GibranIf one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things. ~ Van Gogh The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. ~ Leonardo da VinciSeek first to understand, and then to be understood. ~ Stephen Covey Can a man who's warm understand one who's freezing? ~ Alexander SolzhenitsynQuotes about understanding

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death.Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness.Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up.Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession. Growth itself contains the germ of happiness. The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: a human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. ~Charles DickensIt's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. ~Mother TeresaWe make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. ~Winston ChurchillNo one has ever become poor by giving. ~Anne FrankGiving yourself some loving attention is not selfish. It is sensible. If
you feel loved and cherished--even if it is only by yourself--then you
will have more love to give to others, too. ~Penelope QuestQuotes about giving

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. ~ Maya AngelouAs we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. ~ Bill GatesYou may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. ~ Beverly SillsIf I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest
citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a
bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed
social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung
with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you
have lived—this is to have succeeded. ~ Bessie Anderson Stanley Quotes about success

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find? ~ Samuel JohnsonChildren are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate. ~ anonymous A person's a person no matter how small. ~ Dr. Seuss

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. ~ John W. WhiteheadEvery child you encounter is a divine appointment. ~ Wess Stafford

When a child is locked in the bathroom with water running and he says he's doing nothing but the dog is barking, call 911. ~ Erma BombeckQuotes about children

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Every noble work is at first impossible. ~Thomas CarlyleIt’s kind of fun to do the impossible. ~Walt DisneyWe are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. ~Charles R. SwindollI have learned to use the word “impossible” with the greatest of caution. ~Wernher von Braun"One can't believe impossible things," Alice said. "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. ~Lewis CarrollAll of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the
basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible. ~William FaulknerQuotes about the impossible

Monday, October 7, 2013

The heart has its reasons which reason knows not. ~ Blaise PascalI think... if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts. ~ Leo TolstoyBe still, sad heart! and cease repining;Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;Thy fate is the common fate of all,Into each life some rain must fall. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? ~Dorothy Day

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Every season has its peaks and valleys. What you have to try to do is eliminate the Grand Canyon. ~ Andy Van SlykeOne see great things from the valley, only small things from the peak. ~ G. K. Chesterton All of life is peaks and valleys. Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low. ~ John WoodenProbably nor'east to sou'west winds varying to the southard and westard and eastard and points between; high and low barometer, sweeping round from place to place; probably areas of rain, snow, heat and drought, succeeded or preceded by earth quakes. ~ Mark TwainI've experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I think to really appreciate anything you have to be at both ends of the spectrum. ~ John ElwayQuotes about highs and lows

Friday, October 4, 2013

I enjoyed compiling a third volume of 365 Quote Quest where I provide quotes around a theme or author and ask questions to encourage reflection and enrichment. These entries are a product of my regular posts here and at 365 Quote Quest, in particular.

For example, entry #834 is entitled 'Stay Involved.'

The dedicated life is the life worth living. ~ Annie Dillard

The resolved mind hath no cares. ~ George Herbert

Without involvement there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment. ~ Stephen R. Covey

A power of Butterfly must be -The Aptitude to flyMeadows of Majesty concedesAnd easy Sweeps of Sky. ~Emily DickinsonThere is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. ~Margaret FullerThe caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity. ~George CarlinButterflies are self propelled flowers. ~R. H. HeinleinWe are all butterflies. Earth is our chrysalis. ~LeeAnn TaylorThe butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. ~Rabindranath Tagore

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities. ~Stuart Brown

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play. ~Abraham Maslow

Children at play are not playing about. Their games should be seen as their most serious minded activity. ~Michel de Montaigne

Now in myth and ritual the great instinctive forces of civilized life have their origin: law and order, commerce and profit, craft and art, poetry, wisdom and science. All are rooted in the primeval soil of play. ~Johan Huizinga

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water. ~ Benjamin FranklinThousands have lived without love, not one without water. ~ W. H. Auden If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. Loran EisleyWe need a new global culture that finds the existence of millions of thirsty people thoroughly and immediately unacceptable. ~ Jean-Michel CousteauWater is critical for sustainable development, including environmental
integrity and the alleviation of poverty and hunger, and is
indispensable for human health and well-being. ~ United NationsQuotes about water

Monday, September 30, 2013

I need nothing. I seek nothing. I desire nothing. ~ MilarepaThe only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing. ~ Socrates I love to talk about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about. ~ Oscar WildeMore powerful than God, more evil than the Devil; the poor have it, the rich lack it, and if you eat it you die? ~ Margaret AtwoodBe content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you
realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~ Lao TzuQuotes about nothing

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Rarely affirm, seldom deny, always distinguish.Wonder is the desire of knowledge.Love follows knowledge.Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it. I would hope
to act with compassion without thinking of personal gain.The study of philosophy is not that we may know what men have thought, but what the truth of things is.Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to
be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike
in being big with wonder.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is
exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only
different kinds of good weather.Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.

There is no wealth but life. Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.Every increased possession loads us with new weariness.The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get from it, but what they become by it.Quotes by John Ruskin

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

If you want to keep your memories, you first have to live them.Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the pastI know every scene by heart, they all went by so fast.Every pleasure's got an edge of pain, pay your ticket and don't complain.Chaos is a friend of mine.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because
he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears,
however measured or far away. ~ Henry David ThoreauFor I have known them all already, known them all—Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. ~ T. S. EliotGod is a concept by which we measure our pain. ~ John Lennon

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of
comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and
controversy. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. ~ Samuel JohnsonMeasure of intelligence is the ability to change. ~ Albert Einstein